Electric toilet

ABSTRACT

An electric toilet of the kind which presents a vertical shaft which, by means of a heat-insulating plate or the like capable of being inserted between both chambers can be divided into a lower compartment, the combustion chamber, containing an electric heat source and a grid, and into an upper compartment, the seat cone compartment housing a seat cone extending downwardly below the toilet seat, the bottom and sidewalls of the combustion compartment being heat insulated by a suitable insulating material and the combustion compartment or chamber communicating with an upright exhaust gas flue and further presenting a removable ash box, in which the external insulation of the combustion chamber of the electric toilet is at least partly shielded by columns of air which, for the purpose of creating conditions for a sufficiently good cooling of exposed parts by natural draught and for preheating air supplied to the combustion chamber, communicate freely at their bottom ends with the ambient air and open at their top ends into the seat cone compartment and via the latter, in the operative position of the plate, communicate with the combustion chamber through apertures, spaces or the like having a limited flow area as compared with said flue and preferably arranged either in the plate or in the wall of the combustion chamber or formed between the plate and the latter.

United States Patent [72] Inventor Goran Emil Lagstrom Essingeringen 72c, Stockholm, Sweden [2]] Appl. No. 883,400 [22] Filed Dec. 9, 1969 [45] Patented Jan. 11, 1972 [32] Priority Dec. 12, 1968 [33] Sweden [31] 17034/68 [541 ELECTRIC TOILET 3 Claims, 2 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S.Cl 4/131 [51] Int. Cl A47k 11/02 [50] Field of Search... 4/131, 132, 133,1; 110/9, 9 E

[ 56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,732,564 l/l956 Potts 4/131' 3,111,684 11/1963 Cole.... 4/131 3,331,338 7/1967 Blankenship. 110/9 3,338,191 8/1967 Frankel etal 110/9 FOREIGN PATENTS 216,689 8/1958 Australia 4/131 Primary Examiner- Herbert F. Ross Assistant Examiner- Donald B. Massenberg Attorney-Fleit, Gipple & Jacobson ABSTRACT: An electric toilet of the kind which presents a vertical shaft which, by means ofa heat-insulating plate or the like capable of being inserted between both chambers can be divided into a lower compartment, the combustion chamber, containing an electric heat source and a grid, and into an upper compartment, the seat cone compartment housing a seat cone extending downwardly below the toilet seat, the bottom and sidewalls of the combustion compartment being heat insulated by a suitable insulating material and the combustion compartment or chamber communicating with an upright exhaust gas flue and further presenting a removable ash box, in which the external insulation of the combustion chamber of the electric toilet is at least partly shielded by columns of air which, for the purpose of creating conditions for a sufficiently good cooling of exposed parts by natural draught and for preheating air supplied to the combustion chamber, communicate freely at their bottom ends with the ambient air and open at their top ends into the seat cone compartment and via the latter, in the operative position of the plate, communicate with the combustion chamber through apertures, spaces or the like having a limited flow area as compared with said flue and preferably arranged either in the plate or in the wall of the combustion chamber or formed between the plate and the latter.

PATENTED AN 1 i972 SHEET 2 OF 2 f, A f

I \JVEFJTOR GO'RAN EM L LAGSTRGM ATTORFIEYS ELECTRIC TOILET The present invention relates to an electric toilet of the kind which presents a vertical shaft, which, by means of a heat-insulating plate or the like capable of being inserted between both chambers, can be divided into a lower compartment, the combustion chamber, containing an electric heat source and a grid, and into an upper compartment, the seat cone compartment, housing a seat cone extending downwardly below the toilet seat, the bottom and sidewalls of the combustion compartment or chamber being heat insulated by a suitable insulating material and the combustion chamber communicating with an upright exhaust gas flue and further presenting a removable ash box.

Electric toilets are usually equipped with fans, which on one hand are arranged to exhaust combustion gases and on the other hand to supply cooling air particularly to exposed parts. Fan units are often expensive and in addition, an unfavorable combustion occurs in the combustion chamber of the toilet due to unsuitable air cooling. It is therefore suggested that instead of a positive air circulation, the natural draught in a funnel be used for cooling and for combustion. Since, however, the draught is rather small if the chimney is of low height, which is usually the case in houses and summer cottages, certain difficulties will be met when the combustion has started in the combustion chamber, in obtaining satisfactory cooling of the exposed parts of the toilet, which according to the standards must haVe a low temperature, for instance 50 C. on the external sides of the toilet and 30 C. on the seat cone, taking the surrounding temperature to be C. Consequently, the temperature range in which to operate is rather limited.

However, these problems are solved in a surprisingly simple way by the present invention, which is mainly characterized in that the external insulation of the combustion chamber of the electric toilet is at least partly shielded by air columns, which for the purpose of creating conditions for sufficiently good cooling of exposed parts by natural draught and preheating air supplied to the combustion chamber, communicate freely at their bottom ends with the ambient air and open at their top ends into the seat cone compartment and via the latter, in the operative position of the plate, communicate with the combustion chamber through apertures, spaces or the like having a limited flow area as compared with said flue and preferably arranged either in the plate or in the wall of the combustion chamber or formed between the plate and the latter.

In accordance with a further development of the invention the air columns are preferably arranged in such a way that the outer walls of the latter form the outer panels of the toilet.

The invention will now be more closely explained with reference to an embodiment diagrammatically shown in the attached drawing and in connection therewith further characterizing features of the invention will be set forth.

FIG. 1 shows in perspective, partly in section, an embodiment of an electric toilet according to the present invention, with a natural draught for cooling and combustion purposes FIG. 2 is a cross section of the toilet shown in FIG. 1.

The drawing illustrates one embodiment of an electric toilet according to the invention, which is built to form a parallelepipedic box generally designated by the reference numeral 10, bounded by the side panels 11 and 12, a front panel 13 and a rear panel 14. Furthermore, the box presents an insulated bottom 15. At the top the box is closed by a cover plate 16 and a toilet seat 17, which can be covered by a hinged toilet cover 18 of known type, which is pivotable by means of hinges placed rearly ofthe cover at 19.

Extending downwardly in the shaft formed within the box is a seat cone 20 open at its bottom end, below which in the lower part of the shaft is arranged a horizontal electric coil 21 which, in the example shown, is protected by a grate 22 extending above it.

Inserted through an opening in the front panel of the electric toilet is a displaceable ash box 23, which is adapted to extend beneath the electric coil as well as the protecting grate 22. The ash box is provided with a handle 24 and a special air opening 25 in its front part. Extending through the rear wall or panel 14 is an exhaust gas duct 26, which is connected to a vertical flue or chimney, not shown, through a tube bend or the like 27.

The sides of the lower part of the shaft, which serves as a combustion chamber, are insulated by insulation mats or insulation material 28 of a known kind, kept in place by means of supporting walls 29 and 30 and a covering rim 31. In one 11 of the side panels there is further provided a horizontal elongated rectangular slot 3 through which a heatinsulating plate 33 can be entered and which is guided by its longitudinal side edges 34 and 35 in U-shaped rails 36, said rails being attached to the rim 30. The plate 33 is covered on top by a plate 37 which is raised to some extent above the top of the plate, by spacers such as 38 so as to form a column ofair between the heat-insulating plate 33 and the plate 37.

The plate 33, with the plate 37 fixed thereto, can be pushed in so as to occupy a position just below the seat cone 20 and be retracted in its entirely from the toilet shaft. When the plate 33 is pushed in fully it divides the toilet shaft into a lower compartment the combustion chamber, and an upper compartment, the seat cone chamber.

The electric coil 21 is connected by the cables 39 and 40 to a source of current not shown via a junction box 41, a stopwatch 46, by which a suitable time can be set for the supply of current to the electric coil 21, a limit switch 47 and a limit switch 48 being connected in series in the cable 40 by means of the cables 42, 43, 44 and 45. The limit switch 47 is adapted to be actuated by the cover 18 so that it is closed when the cover is down. In addition, the limit switch 48 is arranged in such a way that it is closed when the plate 33 is inserted and thus actuating the sensing means 49. Among other things, this electric arrangement prevents the possibility of touching live parts. Consequently, the supply of power to the electric coil 21 is completely interrupted when the cover 18 is in its raised position and also when the plate 33 is retracted. Consequently, combustion can only take place when the cover 18 is down and the plate 33 fully inserted, whereby also the draught through the toilet takes the correct course.

It may also be mentioned that the electric toilet may be provided at a number of suitable places with vents, for instance the openings 50 and 51, a careful adjustment of the air passages being, however, required.

As will be evident particularly from FIG. 2, the combustion chamber and its insulation 28 is surrounded, at least on certain sides, by columns of air 52, which in the example illustrated are open at their bottom ends 53. These columns of air 52 open freely at their top ends into the seat cone chamber. From FIG. 2 it will also be seen that an air passage 55 having a restricted flow area is formed between the inner part of the plate 33 and the inner wall of the combustion chamber 30, which passage 55 provides a limited communication between the seat cone chamber and the combustion chamber. In the case shown, the plate 33 thus does not extend up to the wall 30. In order to provide the possibility of limited communication, according to the invention, the plate could be completely inserted in the wall 30, whereby suitable holes could be arranged in the plate. Furthermore, it is within the scope of the invention to arrange that the limited air communication takes place through suitable holes through the wall of the combustion chamber 30 as well as through the insulation adjacent to the seat cone chamber, in which case the above-mentioned adjustment of the air passages must be taken into consideration.

When the combustion of feces and the like which have fallen onto the grate 22 has started and gradually increases, the exhaust gases will escape with increasing speed into the fresh air by predominant chamber draught in the exhaust gas duct 26 and the duct section 27 as well as in the vertical chimney not shown. This results in a very strong natural draught through the columns 52, which acts coolingly on the outer sides of the insulation 28 as well as upon the boundary walls, for instance 11 and 12. The air thereby flows up into the seat cone compartment where it deflects into the direction of arrow A and continues together with air from the seat cone compartment, which flows downwards in the direction of the arrow B, through the opening 55 and into the combustion chamber, where it helps to maintain the combustion. Due to the air movement created, air will also pass in the direction of arrow C through the columns between the plate 33 and the plate 37, which latter will be effectively cooled thereby.

By means of the arrangement shown, effective cooling of all exposed surfaces of the electric toilet is obtained in a very surprising way, solely by a natural draught.

The invention is not limited to the embodiment shown and described but can be varied in different ways within the scope of the attached claims.

What is claimed is:

1. An electric toilet of the kind which presents a vertical shaft which is divided into a lower combustion chamber containing an electric source of heat and a grid and an upper seat cone chamber which accommodates a seat cone extending downwardly below the toilet seat, said chambers being separated by a heat-insulating plate capable of being inserted and withdrawn therebetween, the bottom and the sidewalls of the combustion chamber being heat-insulated by means of suitable insulating material positioned adjacent the inside surface of the walls and said combustion chamber communicating with an upstanding Smokestack, the improvement comprising the shaft having a vertical air column arranged between the combustion chamber insulating material and the inside surface of the walls communicating freely at the bottom thereof with the ambient air and at the top thereof with the seat cone chamber, the shaft having an air passageway formed between the plate and the inside surface of the insulating material so that the seat cone chamber in turn communicates with the combustion chamber and a second plate spacedly secured to the heat-insulating plate forming a horizontal column of air beneath the bottom of the seat cone and communicating with the vertical air column and the combustion chamber wherein air is drawn into and through the shaft without being heated prior to entering the combustion chamber in the absence of powered forced airflow.

2. An electric toilet according to claim 1, wherein the shaft has a gap between said second plate and the seat cone which permits said second plate and said heat-insulating plate to be withdrawn and inserted and which provides for air communication between the interior of the seat cone and the combustion chamber.

3. An electric toilet according to claim 1 wherein the shaft has means fluidly communicating between the seat cone chamber and the ambient air. 

1. An electric toilet of the kind which presents a vertical shaft which is divided into a lower combustion chamber containing an electric source of heat and a grid and an upper seat cone chamber which accommodates a seat cone extending downwardly below the toilet seat, said chambers being separated by a heatinsulating plate capable of being inserted and withdrawn therebetween, the bottom and the sidewalls of the combustion chamber being heat-insulated by means of suitable insulating material positioned adjacent the inside surface of the walls and said combustion chamber communicating with an upstanding smokestack, the improvement comprising the shaft having a vertical air column arranged between the combustion chaMber insulating material and the inside surface of the walls communicating freely at the bottom thereof with the ambient air and at the top thereof with the seat cone chamber, the shaft having an air passageway formed between the plate and the inside surface of the insulating material so that the seat cone chamber in turn communicates with the combustion chamber and a second plate spacedly secured to the heat-insulating plate forming a horizontal column of air beneath the bottom of the seat cone and communicating with the vertical air column and the combustion chamber wherein air is drawn into and through the shaft without being heated prior to entering the combustion chamber in the absence of powered forced airflow.
 2. An electric toilet according to claim 1, wherein the shaft has a gap between said second plate and the seat cone which permits said second plate and said heat-insulating plate to be withdrawn and inserted and which provides for air communication between the interior of the seat cone and the combustion chamber.
 3. An electric toilet according to claim 1 wherein the shaft has means fluidly communicating between the seat cone chamber and the ambient air. 